Tag: Aesop

“There was a time when all the animals spoke the same language. A mouse who was on friendly terms with a frog, invited him to dinner and led him into a storehouse of his wealth where he kept his bread, cheese, honey, dried figs and all of his precious things. And he said “Eat whatever you wish, Frog.” Then the Frog responded: “When you come visit me, you too will have your fill of fine things. But I don’t want you to be nervous, so I will fasten your foot to my foot.” After the Frog bound his foot to the mouse’s and dragging him in this way, he pulled the tied-up mouse into the pond. While he drowned, he said “I am being mortified by you, but I will be avenged by someone still alive!” A bird who saw the mouse afloat flew down and seized him. The Frog went aloft with him too and thus, the bird slaughtered them both.

Note 1: ὁμόφωνα τὰ ζῷα, “common animal language”: It is unclear whether, in these halcyon days before the fall from linguistic harmony, a Frog would squeak or a Mouse would croak when in the other’s company.

Note 2: ἐμπλήσθητι τῶν ἀγαθῶν :”you will have your fill of good things”. If the Mouse knew his Pindar (῎Αριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, 1.1), he would suspect that the Frog will do what in fact does, which is to fill his lungs with water. This illustrates that good things are in fact relative. A Mouse and Frog will hold different things dear.

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“The frogs, distressed by the anarchy prevailing among them, sent ambassadors to Zeus asking him to give them a king. He took note of their silliness and threw down a piece of wood into the pond. The frogs, terrified at first by the loud sound, submerged themselves in the depths of the pond.

Later, when the piece of wood was still, they came back up and rose to such a height of insolence that they mounted the wood and perched upon it. Deeming this king unworthy of them, they sent messengers to Zeus, asking him to change their king, because the first one was too lazy. Zeus was irritated by this, so he sent them a snake as king, by whom they were all snatched up and eaten.”

Archilochus talks about the monkey in another fragment. Here, the monkey meets a fox.

Archilochus, Fr. 185

“I will tell you a fable, Cerycides,
With a mournful message [stick]:
A monkey was traveling ahead of the other animals,
Alone into the distance,
When a clever fox met him,
Possessing a well-formed mind.”

The fabulous meeting of the monkey and fox may have even more to say to our times. Here are two fables from the Aesopic tradition. (For an embarrassment of riches when it comes to resources for fables, go to mythfolklore.net)

Aesop, Fable 83

“A monkey danced at a gathering of unreasoning animals and, impressing them, was elected king. But a fox, envying him for this, noticed a piece of meat lying in a trap. She led the monkey to where it was, and said that she had discovered a storehouse on her own but did not use it because she had saved the prize for his kingdom. She advised him to take it. When he stupidly approached, he was caught by the trap. When he blamed the fox for leading him to the trap, she said, “Monkey, how are you going to be king of the animals with this kind of mind?”

In this way, people who attempt deeds without any experience slip into misfortune and absurdity.”

“While traveling together a fox and a monkey started arguing about their family trees. They were arguing for a while until they came to a graveyard. After he looked there, the monkey moaned. When the fox was asking why, the monkey pointed to the monuments and said, “How can I fail to weep looking at the graves of my ancestors?” The fox responded, “Lie as much as you want. None of them will stand up to refute you!”

It is the same way with men: braggarts lie the most whenever they won’t be challenged.”

“A monkey was asking a fox for part of her tail
So he could properly cover his naked ass.
The mean fox said, “even if it should grow longer still
I would rather drag my tail through muck and spines
Than share with you the smaller part of mine!”

“Dionysius said to him: “you will also find these lines: ‘an old monkey is not caught in a trap’; ‘he is caught, he is caught after some time’. And in addition to these, he said: “Heracleides is illiterate, but not ashamed of it.”

Archilochus talks about the monkey in another fragment. Here, the monkey meets a fox.

Archilochus, Fr. 185

“I will tell you a fable, Cerycides,
With a mournful message [stick]:
A monkey was traveling ahead of the other animals,
Alone into the distance,
When a clever fox met him,
Possessing a well-formed mind.”

The fabulous meeting of the monkey and fox may have even more to say to our times. Here are two fables from the Aesopic tradition. (For an embarrassment of riches when it comes to resources for fables, go to mythfolklore.net)

Aesop, Fable 83

“A monkey danced at a gathering of unreasoning animals and, impressing them, was elected king. But a fox, envying him for this, noticed a piece of meat lying in a trap. She led the monkey to where it was, and said that she had discovered a storehouse on her own but did not use it because she had saved the prize for his kingdom. She advised him to take it. When he stupidly approached, he was caught by the trap. When he blamed the fox for leading him to the trap, she said, “Monkey, how are you going to be king of the animals with this kind of mind?”

In this way, people who attempt deeds without any experience slip into misfortune and absurdity.”

“While traveling together a fox and a monkey started arguing about their family trees. They were arguing for a while until they came to a graveyard. After he looked there, the monkey moaned. When the fox was asking why, the monkey pointed to the monuments and said, “How can I fail to weep looking at the graves of my ancestors?” The fox responded, “Lie as much as you want. None of them will stand up to refute you!”

It is the same way with men: braggarts lie the most whenever they won’t be challenged.”

“A monkey was asking a fox for part of her tail
So he could properly cover his naked ass.
The mean fox said, “even if it should grow longer still
I would rather drag my tail through muck and spines
Than share with you the smaller part of mine!”

“Dionysius said to him: “you will also find these lines: ‘an old monkey is not caught in a trap’; ‘he is caught, he is caught after some time’. And in addition to these, he said: “Heracleides is illiterate, but not ashamed of it.”

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Some of these proverbs were a bit rough – I found some of the ‘interpretations’ rather puzzling. Corrections are welcome/encouraged!

61.
“Desire does not ascend to the top rung of the ladder.”
Interpretation:
“Desire is a sweet thing, if the possession of the objects desired can occur without toil.”
῎Ε<ρω>ς εἰς κλιμάκιον οὐκ ἀναβαίνει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
῾Ηδὺς ὁ πόθος ἐστίν, εἰ δίχα μόχθου
<Τ>ῶν ποθουμένων ἡ κτῆσις προσγενήσεται.

62.
“If you are not wicked to one, you will not become wicked to another.”
Interpretation:
“Time, flitting about from some to others, takes wealth from one and gives to the other.”
<Ε>ἰ μὴ ἄλλῳ κακός, ἄλλῳ καλὸς οὐ γίνῃ.
῾Ερμηνεία.
<῎Α>λλ<οις> ἀπ’ ἄλλων ἐπιφοιτῶν ὁ χρόνος
Τῷ μὲν ἦρε τὸν πλοῦτον, τῷ δ’ ἐνέθηκεν.

64.
“Your guts may battle, but they are not ripped apart.”
Interpretation:
“When children stir up quarrels with their parents, they do not alter the friendliness of their relations.”
῎Εντερα μάχονται, ἀλλ’ οὐ διασπῶνται.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Δίκας κινοῦντες παῖδες πρὸς <τοὺς> τοκέας,
Εὔνοιαν οὐκ ἀλλοιοῦσιν τὴν τῆς φύσεως.

65.
“The well-dressed are honored, the undressed dishonored.”
<Interpretation>
“Those who are well put-together will have their glory on that account, but those who are ill-composed will earn their share of reproach.”
Εὐείμαντος ἔντιμος, ἀνείμαντος ἄτιμος.
<῾Ερμηνεία.>
Εὐσχήμονες ἕξουσιν ἐντεῦθεν γέρας,
Οἱ δ’ ἀσχήμονες εἰσκομίζονται ψόγον.

55.
“The raw recruit is a poison to the ship.”
Interpretation:
“Inexperience is a hard thing, and even more so when the wave of the sea tyrannizes over the ship.”
᾿Ιδιώτης εἰς πλοῖον φάρμακον.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Χαλεπὸν ἀπειρία κἀκεῖσε μᾶλλον,
῎Ενθα κῦμα θαλάσσης τυραννεῖ σκάφος.
56.
“A well-born horse does not kick.”
Interpretation:
“The one who receives the good-breeding of nature will maintain it by the gentleness of manners.”
῞Ιππος εὐγενὴς οὐ λακτίζει.
῾Ερμηνεία.
Εὐγένειαν ὁ λαχὼν τὴν τῆς φύσεως
Ταύτην φυλάττει πραότητι τῶν τρόπων.

57.
“Tell the truth to your doctor and your lawyer.”
Interpretation:
“It is not wise to hide either an affliction of the body or the presence of an illness in one’s vitals.”